Italo Gariboldi

Italo Gariboldi (20 April 1879-3 February 1970) was a general of the Royal Italian Army who led the Italian Army in Russia during World War II.

Biography
Italo Gariboldi was born on 20 April 1879 in Lodi, Lombardy, Italy. Gariboldi served in the Royal Italian Army during World War I, and he rose through the ranks in the Interwar Years. In 1935, he led the Italian 30th Infantry Division and led the Italian 5th Army stationed on the border with Tunisia at the start of Italy's involvement in World War II. In December 1940, Gariboldi was the acting general of the Italian 10th Army while Mario Berti was on sick leave, but he was given power after it was almost destroyed in Operation Compass and Berti's replacement Giuseppe Tellera was killed. Benito Mussolini decided to appoint Gariboldi Governor-General of Italian Libya on 25 March 1941, replacing Rodolfo Graziani, but his lack of cooperation with the German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel led to his replacement with Ettore Bastico. Gariboldi was given command of the Italian Army in Russia from 1942-1943, and he led it during the Battle of Stalingrad. In September 1943, he was held as a prisoner-of-war by Nazi Germany after the armistice with the Allied Powers, and in 1944 he was released by the Allies. He died in 1970.